In 2007, NIN released a concept album, an accompaniment to their new alternate reality game of the same name, Year Zero.

The fictional storyline involves various events that lead to worldwide chaos, including bioterror attacks and a nuclear war between the United States and Iran.

On February 22, 2007, (that's 2/22) a teaser trailer was released on the official Year Zero website, which was in fact one of 30 different websites associated with an extensive viral marketing campaign that included so many gimmicks, giveaways and promotional stunts (such as a mock SWAT raid on an NIN-Year Zero performance) that I’m not about to list them all here.

Like the film Soylent Green, Year Zero takes place in a dystopian future, which, again as with the movie, is set in 2022 A.D. In NIN’s fictional scenario, the U.S. government, in an attempt to facilitate recovery from disaster, declares 2022 to be 0000 B.A. (Born Again), Year Zero.

2022, Year Zero.